That doggone DNA

Tuesday

It seems a certain amount of petty canine crime is going on, right under our noses. Owners and dog-walkers sometimes fail to clean up the messes left by their pooches.

An apartment complex manager in Lebanon, N.H., wants to ID the poop-etrators at her property, and has told residents she will start using DNA testing to do so.

Debbie Violette, who oversees Timberwood Commons in Lebanon, is asking resident dog owners to submit saliva samples from their pets so that DNA profiles can go into a database. Then, if a dog-doo misdeed is done, a sample can be sent to the company that keeps the database ó PooPrints in Knoxville, Tenn., a subsidiary of BioPet Vet Lab. There, DNA would be extracted and compared with the database.

A lab spokesman said that so far about 20 properties in the country have been using the kits. Once the dog is identified, the owner is dealt with by way of a friendly reminder or perhaps a fine.

Ms. Violette noted that the majority of residents are responsible pet owners. Scofflaws, though, havenít been deterred by traditional methods such as warning letters, onlooker frowns, or simple human decency. She said her plan has gotten a favorable response from apartment residents.

We once would never have guessed that sophisticated DNA analysis would ever be employed for such a purpose. Apparently the technology has gotten old enough we can teach it new tricks, or something like that. For us, weíre decidedly low-tech with a leash. Give us a frisky doggie, a Frisbee and a baggie, and weíre happy.

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